EDM.com Spotlight

EDM.com Spotlight

How Electric Family grew from a budding collective to a worldwide philanthropic endeavor

Summary/Commentary:

Dancing Astronaut's Alexandra Blair sat down with Drew Nilon, Matt Dronkers, and Steve Brudzewski of Electric Family to find out the real story of how the lifestyle and apparel brand went from a small collective with a big dream to becoming a worldwide philanthropic success! Hear the story from the self-starters and do-gooders themselves.

In 2012, EDM was utterly inescapable. Dance hits dominated the pop charts. Avicii played Radio City Music Hall. Madonna showed up at Ultra. Previously niche artists rode the furor of their mainstream crossover success into corporate payday territory. Calvin Harris appeared in Pepsi ads. Dubstep became a household word. The sharks smelled blood.

But something else happened in 2012. Three electronic music loving friends made their pilgrimage, convening at Miami’s storied Winter Music Conference. They asked each other: What would it look like to harness that raw, communal energy that uniquely defines the electronic music scene? Could it be distilled down into everyday positivity?

The idea snowballed and they carried it with them back home to California. Abuzz with excitement, they solicited loans from their families and began strategizing to bring their concept to fruition. Seven months later, Electric Family was open for business.

In a time of peak EDM bubble speculation when real world super villains like Sillerman are making millions sucking dry once venerated brands, Electric Family is a breath of fresh air. In fact, they are the anti-Sillerman: rather than indulging voguish exclusivity and corporate prospecting, the company operates under the earnest desire to do something good.

“Whether it’s as simple as posting a thoughtful message to social media or as significant as coordinating thousands of fans to package boxes of food for the homeless, we have made it our priority to give back,” says Co-Founder Steve Brudzewski...